SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - A powerful Georgia judge abused her authority by ordering drug court defendants to be jailed indefinitely, presiding over cases represented by attorneys who are family members and on one occasion sending a defendant to jail because he used the term "baby momma," according to ethical misconduct charges filed by a state agency Wednesday.

The complaint by the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission says that Superior Court Judge Amanda F. Williams could be so harsh that in 2008 she ordered a drug-court defendant with a history of suicide attempts to be jailed in solitary confinement, with no access to visitors except a drug counselor, until the judge ordered her released. The complaint says the woman spent 73 days in solitary confinement and tried to kill herself while jailed.

"Inmate Lindsey Dills is to have NO contact with anyone while she is incarcerated. No mail, no phone calls, no visitors," the judge ordered, according the complaint.

Investigators determined that Williams should have known the jailed woman "was predisposed to suicidal tendencies, having previously signed an order placing her on a suicide-watch while she was in custody," the filing says.

The misconduct complaint doesn't contain criminal charges. But the Judicial Qualifications Commission has the power to investigate judges and recommend that they be removed from office. The agency reports to the Georgia Supreme Court.

Williams, 64, is the chief judge of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit that includes Glynn, Camden, Appling, Wayne and Jeff Davis counties in southeast Georgia. She has served on the bench since 1990 and oversees the largest of Georgia's drug courts, designed to allow some drug offenders to avoid prison if they get clean through treatment programs.

Williams declined to comment when reached by phone at her home Wednesday evening. Her attorney, John Ossick, also declined to comment.

"I haven't even seen the complaint yet," Ossick said.

The complaint says Williams violated state canons governing judicial conduct by ordering several other drug court defendants jailed indefinitely, until she saw fit to release them.

One man, Charles McCullough, was ordered before the judge because of a failed drug test and he told her that he could prove it was a false positive - because he took two more tests immediately afterward that showed no drugs in his system. Williams ordered McCullough jailed for 17 days, the complaint says - three days for a positive drug test and two more weeks for "disputing the initial screen."

Another drug court defendant went before Williams to request an excusal from a Saturday class so he could attend a family function.

"Because of your disdain for the young man's use of the term 'baby momma,' you ordered that the defendant be summarily jailed," the complaint says.

Another drug court defendant, Alisa Branch, was deprived of her right to an attorney in 2010, the charges say, when Williams ordered her to spend a year at a treatment center with "no visitation or contact with any outside persons."

The misconduct complaint also accuses Williams of nepotism, saying she presided over cases in which her husband, lawyer James Williams, and other family members were involved as attorneys. The judge at one time named her daughter, attorney FrancesWilliams Dyal, a court-appointed guardian in a child custody case.

Williams is also accused of unbecoming behavior on the bench for "failing to be patient, dignified, and courteous to individuals appearing before you. You have used rude, abusive, or insulting language."

In one instance, investigators said, Williams screamed at a person she saw chuckling in her courtroom.

Accusations against Williams surfaced as she sought and won re-election to a sixth judicial term last year. Her critics gained national exposure in May when several of Williams' drug defendants were featured in an hour-long story on the public radio show "This American Life."

Williams will have a chance to respond to the misconduct charges in writing. Unless she reaches a settlement with the state agency, her case will go to a formal hearing similar to a trial.

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These people know of the severe consequences of Drug Court before they go. These are in fact people who should be in jail. While it may be that she acted out of line(at least as determined by her peers); we need a very strict court for these people who are given the privilege of staying out of jail. As for the ne'er-do-well talking street trash "baby momma" crap in the courtroom; sounds like enough to put him in jail to me. The McCullogh case sounds like he was trying to beat the system and deserved to go to jail. There was no "false positive".

We give these judges so much power, yet when they break the law and deprive people of their rights and act in a negligent manner it does not constitute a "criminal" offense. Remove this sicko from the bench, now!

By the standards of the Drug Court system, she over stepped her reach on more then a few cases. She handles cases in at least 4 counties I know of on the south coast of Georgia. Only time I ever heard her backing down was with the daughter of a Navy officer out of Kingston. I know lawyers that refuse to go into chambers with her unless a second lawyer is there as a witness. Expect more on this.

This judge is not the only one with her own agenda. Many of them make decisions and rulings and sentences based on lots of different things other than the case in front of them. I have heard phrases like "throwing a certain public defender a bone", "couldn't rule against his detectives, he has to work with them all the time", etc.

We like to believe that judges and our judicial system is fair and impartial but over and over again, we discover that it is not so.

Drug courts are a good thing. Those with addictive disease do not need to be in jail or prison, they need to be in treatment. Drug court is a good way to hold them accountable for getting into and staying in treatment.

While I do understand that a certain decorum is mandatory in courtrooms, saying "baby momma" just doesn't seem rise to the level to lock someone up.

I wish there were a better way to hold judges accountable for adhering to legal, ethical and moral standards in their treatment of citizens who come before them.

Some judges take their oath and responsibility very seriously but for those that don't, there needs to be more oversight.

If he had uttered an actual obscenity in the court, it would have been fair to charge him with contempt, but he did not. Most jails barely have room for the violent and dangerous criminals, and last I checked, being ignorant is neither a crime nor an infraction. Why charge taxpayers for his room and board, when a lecture on parental responsibility and respecting women would have sufficed? This judge is clearly abusing her power, and has opened up these towns/counties to several civil rights lawsuits.

I hear you, and I agree. I believe in the justice system. I don't agree with those who use the system to push their own agendas. She needs to pay for her abuse of the law that she does not own. She made a conscious decision to abuse her authority. A position as important as "judge" many time gives the position holder the opportunity to be who they really are: a fair person or an unfair person. She chose the dark side and she should be stripped of her position immediately. I would refuse to be judge by her and would sue if I were force to face her. This situation deserves more media attention. We must clean this kind of abuse up. I served my country and this is not the kind of abuse of justice I risked my life for. This is definitely not the kind of freedom of expression I defended. Get her out! Get her out! There are other fair and qualified people who can take her place. We do not have to settle. Get her out!

Unless you were abused, served time in prison, or were a POW, I don't see why you would think that the use of "baby momma" is an offense worthy of incarceration. Seriously, are you ok? If you were a judge would you really do what she did?

"Baby Momma" correctable of punishable? Is there a law against its use in court?

Get her out, let her spend some time over at GCDC! She caused a man to kill his self due to her attitude! This guy was in the drug court program but until he couldnt take the pressure and fear of the judge, he killed his self! How is it that she has been able to cover all this up for ALL these years? Did you know she owns the drug court building down town? Wonder how much she is profiting off of it? She also accepted mentally handicapped people into her drug court and wouldnt let them see there physiatrist. She is really out of control and needs to be stopped. And what about the guy who had been told by her if he hired a certain attorney he would do ONE YEAR AND ONE DAY. How has she gotten away with this unjustice justice for so long?